Expanding and Improving the C-Light Regional Optical Network

Clemson University Research Foundation, Clemson SC

Investigators

Abstract

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5). This project will renovate the existing regional optical research and education network infrastructure in South Carolina, the South Carolina Light Rail and C-Light. The project will lead to a higher bandwidth connection between South Carolina campuses and national research and education networks. The project will replace an existing router at the border of the C-Light network, in Greenville, with a carrier-class router and use this to peer with Internet2 and the North Carolina Research and Education Network in Charlotte, and with Southern Crossroads/Southern Light Rail, Internet2 and National Lambda Rail in Atlanta. The bandwidth of the connection between Atlanta and Greenville will be expanded and multiple optical waves will be used to connect Greenville and Charlotte. Campus Points of Presence within South Carolina Light Rail will be augmented with new switches. A number of research projects will benefit from the enhanced connectivity. These include: research on avionics at the Citadel; research at Claflin University into the structural mechanisms responsible for the stability of proteins; modeling studies of cloud formation over Antarctica conducted by Coastal Carolina University; the use of archeometrics to develop digital reconstructions of ancient buildings (also by Coastal Carolina University); modeling studies of galaxy collisions by a researcher at Francis Marion University; research into protein docking by investigators at the Medical University of South Carolina, the University of South Carolina, and the University of Tennessee; network analyses of signal transduction as well as research on tissue engineering and biofabrication at the Medical University of South Carolina; and the simulation of polymers, including biopolymers, their interactions with synthetic surfaces and other polymers, approaches to DNA sequencing and detection using nanopore techniques, and multi-scale modeling of materials, by investigators at the University of South Carolina. The project will provide infrastructure for research conducted at academic institutions within the state of South Carolina. Because a variety of different institutions, including two historically black colleges and universities, are being connected to South Carolina Light Rail through other funding, enhancing the connections between South Carolina Light Rail and the national research and education networks will benefit not only the South Carolina Light Rail principals, Clemson, the University of South Carolina and the Medical University of South Carolina, but also a broader range of institutions throughout South Carolina. The project includes educational activities at Coastal Carolina University (a parallel programming course), South Carolina State University, and the South Carolina Governor's High School for Science and Mathematics (using the remote computing resources for classroom education).